Comprehensive Understanding the Disaster-Causing Mechanism, Governance Dilemma and Targeted Countermeasures of Urban Pluvial Flooding in China

Abstract

Urban pluvial flooding in China has become one of the major challenges for sustainable development. This paper analyzes the impact of climate change, urbanization, and integrated disaster drivers on urban pluvial flooding hazards, starting from the disaster-causing mechanisms of urban pluvial flooding in China. This paper then analyzes the main features and progress of urban pluvial flooding governance in China. In particular, this paper describes the progress of sponge cities in China. On the basis of the above contents, this paper describes three manifestations of the fragmentation dilemma at the level of governance, namely, fragmentation in value integration due to conflicting management orders and service values, fragmentation in resource and power allocation due to the lack of vertical top-level design and blurred horizontal departmental management boundaries, and fragmentation in policy formulation and implementation due to outdated urban flood control standards and interdepartmental information compartmentalization. In response to the fragmentation dilemma in urban pluvial flooding management in China, this paper introduces the concept of holistic governance and clarifies the path of urban waterlogging management, i.e., forming a collaborative and diversified governance subjects, deeply optimizing the organizational structure of urban waterlogging management, creating a mature information-based governance platform, and improving the legal and rule of law construction model. This paper is informative for understanding the governance of urban pluvial flooding in China from a government-led management level.